Punch à la Romaine (1912)

A pause before the roast

The menu lists “Punch Romaine”; this recipe comes from Escoffier’s A Guide to Modern Cookery, published in London in 1907. It shows what the name meant to a London kitchen of the time; the ship’s own version isn’t recorded. Forgotten Drink, our sister site, explains why it is so often called the ship’s last cocktail, and what else was poured on board, in what people drank on the Titanic (opens in a new tab).

Escoffier explains exactly where such a course belonged. Sherbets are “served after the Entrées,” and they serve “in freshening the stomach; preparing it to properly receive the roast.” Punch à la romaine is his sherbet made grander: syrup and dry white wine or Champagne infused with orange and lemon, frozen until “somewhat stiff,” then mixed with a quarter of its volume of Italian meringue. The rum goes in “little by little” just before serving.

He is precise about the texture too. “The consistence of a Sherbet, of what kind soever, should be such as to allow of its being drunk.” That is softer than a modern sorbet, closer to a frozen drink you eat with a spoon. His rule of thumb for quantities is generous: “one quart of the finished preparation should be allowed for every ten people.”